Imperfect systems and diachronic change
-
Giampaolo Salvi
Abstract
Syntactic change consists of (a series of) small, local changes which are the result of chance or are brought about by the possible imperfections of the linguistic system — the impression of globality of the change is due to the sum of the individual changes which, eventually eliminating single imperfections, contribute to the formation of a more coherent system. In Modern Italian, one can identify two independent reflexive (“si”) constructions which syntactically demote the lexical subject: a passive one and an impersonal one, with quite distinct properties. Old Italian only had passive si — the impersonal construction is the result of many small changes in the rules and the domain of application of the passive construction: these changes began in the Old Italian period and lasted for at least five centuries. But this new construction, not being the result of a unitary project, continues to show signs of being imperfectly put together.
Abstract
Syntactic change consists of (a series of) small, local changes which are the result of chance or are brought about by the possible imperfections of the linguistic system — the impression of globality of the change is due to the sum of the individual changes which, eventually eliminating single imperfections, contribute to the formation of a more coherent system. In Modern Italian, one can identify two independent reflexive (“si”) constructions which syntactically demote the lexical subject: a passive one and an impersonal one, with quite distinct properties. Old Italian only had passive si — the impersonal construction is the result of many small changes in the rules and the domain of application of the passive construction: these changes began in the Old Italian period and lasted for at least five centuries. But this new construction, not being the result of a unitary project, continues to show signs of being imperfectly put together.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Syntactic change from within and from without syntax: A usage-based analysis 13
- On explaining the rise of c'est -clefts in French 31
- The role of the plural system in Romance 57
- Morphological developments affecting syntactic change 85
- Grammaticalisation within the IP-domain 107
- Imperfect systems and diachronic change 127
- From temporal to modal: Divergent fates of the Latin synthetic pluperfect in Spanish and Portuguese 147
- Non-lexical core-arguments in Basque, Romance and German: How (and why) Spanish syntax is shifting towards clausal headmarking and morphological cross-reference 181
- Towards a comprehensive view of language change: Three recent evolutionary approaches 215
- Subject Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Syntactic change from within and from without syntax: A usage-based analysis 13
- On explaining the rise of c'est -clefts in French 31
- The role of the plural system in Romance 57
- Morphological developments affecting syntactic change 85
- Grammaticalisation within the IP-domain 107
- Imperfect systems and diachronic change 127
- From temporal to modal: Divergent fates of the Latin synthetic pluperfect in Spanish and Portuguese 147
- Non-lexical core-arguments in Basque, Romance and German: How (and why) Spanish syntax is shifting towards clausal headmarking and morphological cross-reference 181
- Towards a comprehensive view of language change: Three recent evolutionary approaches 215
- Subject Index 251
